Hello,

I am a first time Ranger owner, and not much of mechanic. I can change my oil, but that's about it.
My clutch has been acting up really badly--unless it's the transmission (fingers crossed that it ain't), to the point where I have the clutch floored but I can't get it into 1st gear, or reverse.
I took it to my local mechanic; he said it was the clutch, and replaced it to the tune of $800.
He then told me, "1st and reverse will still be a little tough for a little bit."
And it is; in fact, it's worse. I've driven it 3 times since he worked on it, about 130 miles.
And I'm in Vermont, and it is very cold right now. Still, it jammed up on me so bad today that I think I got a hernia trying to get it into gear at a red light.
Oh, and now it's harder to get into 2nd, 3rd, and 4th.


Now, I have been driving stickshift for 35 years, and I have never had a clutch do this.
So I ask y'all:

1) Have you ever heard of a clutch taking awhile, and being "rough for a bit" after it's been replaced?
2) When I get to a red light and I need to take it from 4th back to 1st, I push in the clutch to the floor as I come to a stop, then stop, then, shift...right?
Did I magically forget how to shift somehow?

 

Sounds like you got the same problem I got air in the clutch line

 

Your mechanic didn't do you any favors. There is absolutely no reason for 1st and revers to be "tough for a little bit" after a clutch change. It might engage a little more aggressively for the first few hundred miles, but that is typical of most all new clutch installs. The flywheel, friction disc, and pressure plate all must mate together during the break-in period, which can cause aggressive engagement and might cause it to feel "clunky". It definitely should not effect the ability to shift into any gear from a dead stop.

Without being there it's hard to say if you even needed a clutch in the first place. Rule of thumb, clutches will either fail spectacularly, or they become so worn that they slip. In my experience, there is not a whole lot of "in between" that would translate to difficulty shifting into 1st/R, and not all other gears. I'm willing to bet the clutch hydraulics needed their fluids flushed, as brake fluid absorbs water over time, and in doing so, eventually boils out of the fluid and causes minute air pockets that build up over time to create a "soft pedal" which will cause the clutch to drag over time and cause difficulty in shifting into gears from a stand still (1st/R). As a rule, when at a stop, you should be able to put the clutch in, and after counting to 3, shift into reverse without issue or grief. I do not consider gear alignment to be "grief" as some transmissions just need a bit of gear cycling to get them to engage R. The clutch drag, when minimal, does not effect any other forward gears as the synchros take care of the discrepancy in I/O speeds.

Generally, difficulty shifting into 1st gear ONLY is an indicator of a worn pilot bearing, or input shaft bearing.
Difficulty shifting into reverse (while stationary) is often characterized by clutch drag, caused by air in the lines.
Difficulty shifting into all gears is also usually clutch drag, caused by air in the lines, or catastrophic failure.

If your pilot bearing wasn't replaced when you had the clutch changed, shame on your mechanic. Assuming it was, lets look at your hydraulic system and bleed it.

Rangers are a bit finicky, in most cases it's suggested to "bench bleed" the master cyl. That is recommended because the line orientation between the fluid fill reservoir and the line that goes out of the master to the slave are in an orientation that often traps an air bubble that is practically impossible to remove with the master installed on the truck. Per the service manual, you'd remove the master from the truck, and bleed it by itself on the bench, to remove the air from the master cyl itself. And then, install the master back on to the truck, and then bleed the slave as you would normally.

Since I got tired of the pesky quick disconnect system ford used to connect master to slave, I replaced my line with -3AN braided stainless line. So, the way I do it, and what I feel is much easier than the "normal way" to do it, is as follows.

• Jack driver front up
• Remove driver front tire
• Remove fender liner
• Remove master cyl (leaving all lines connected) instructions below
  • Under hood, locate and remove master reservoir retaining bolt/plug
  • In cabin, remove Neutral Safety Switch (should be a cover that you can snap off, depending on year, and if you have OEM or aftermarket will determine shape and color) Unplug it from harness then remove off master cyl rod.
  • Disconnect Actuating Rod from Clutch pedal, use a flat head screwdriver to pop it off the ball. The little retaining clip that snaps into the end of the rod is replaceable if you break it
  • Remove Master - on most every ranger after 1990, the master twists into place on the firewall, it will need a slight push "in" towards the firewall, then a quarter turn (I cannot recall if its left or right, sue me LOL)
• Turn master cyl upside down - you want the line to the slave to be "lower" than the line that goes up to the reservoir. The flaw is that the routing puts the reservoir input under the output to the slave, trapping air in that pocket. The lines will swivel in the master, so do not fear rotating the metal fittings if you are concerned you might break them
• Have a friend crack the slave bleeder, and then depress master cyl rod until completely down, or as far as you can muster. I call this passive bleeding as you use no "pressure" to move fluid
• close bleeder, release master cyl rod
• refill master reservoir, and repeat until you've at least ran a cup of fluid through the system
  • DO NOT pump the actuating rod or pedal at any moment, all that does is takes large air bubbles and emulsifies them into a lot of tiny bubbles
• Reinstall master on truck, "power bleed" it a few times if you want (power bleedng, my definition, where you put pressure on the system by pushing in the pedal, and then crack the bleeder to release the pressure)
• Reinstall Neutral safety switch
• Start Truck, depress E-Brake if not done already
• Attempt to shift into any and all gears while running
  • if sucessful, reinstall splash shields and wheel, go for a drive
  • If not, reattempt to bleed, look for any indicators of other problems by observing clutch action through inspection window
• Enjoy truck

Sorry for the book, but hopefully this gets you back on the road with a functional and easily shifting truck!

 

I have a ranger manufactured 10-93 . Just wanna make sure and order right clutch kit. Also should I get the pre bled slave cylinder ?